Tensions Growing in the Middle East

Tensions continue to mount in the Middle East after the terrorist attack in late August that resulted in the deaths of eight Israelis near the southern port city of Eilat. The terrorists, affiliated with a Sinai branch of Al-Qaeda, had crossed the now porous Egyptian border. Israel was quick to retaliate but in a more restrained way than at other times. Yet the border incursion reminds us that the situation within Egypt regarding Israel and the continuation of the Camp David Accords of 1979 are tenuous at best.

This past weekend Turkey broke off diplomatic and military relations with Israel, recalling their ambassador from Tel Aviv and expelling Israel's ambassador to Ankara. This was prompted by the recent Palmer Report to the United Nations concerning the May 2010 Israeli commando raid on the Turkish ship Mavi Marmara in which nine Turkish protesters were killed. This ship was part of the flotilla seeking to break the Israeli naval blockade of the Gaza Strip. The Palmer Commission Report affirmed Israel's right to blockade Gaza, and also strongly criticized Israel for its use of force on the ship. Turkey's Prime Minister Recep Erdogan had stated that Turkey would take drastic actions unless Israel apologized, which Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has refused to do. Now, relations between these two nations are more fractured than ever. Just another sign that Turkey is pointing in a more easterly direction for support than in a westerly one as in the past.

Also, this past weekend, IDF Major General Eyal Eisenberg, chief of Israel's Home Front Command, speaking before the Institute for National Securities Studies in Tel Aviv, said that, in his opinion, "the likelihood of an all-out war is increasingly growing." he went on to say, "Iran has not abandoned its nuclear program.... In Egypt, the army is collapsing under the burden of regular security operations, and this is reflected in the loss of control in the Sinai and the turning of the border with Israel into a terror border, with the possibility that Sinai will fall under the control of an Islamic entity. ... In Lebanon, Hezbollah is growing stronger within government arms, but it has not lost its desire to harm Israel." ("Arutz Sheva, September 6, 2011). Eisenberg described this as a "radical Islamic winter," and warned that "this raises the likelihood of an all-out, total war, with the possibility of weapons of mass destruction being used."

And, what is the United States doing? In a piece published by journalist Jeffrey Goldberg (who is no friend of Israel), he quoted former Defense Secretary Robert Gates as saying that Prime Minister Netanyahu was an "ungrateful ally." Gates went on to say, "Netanyahu is not only ungrateful, but also endangering his country by refusing to grapple with Israel's growing isolation and with the demographic challenges it faces if it keeps control of the West Bank." So much for friendships.

This weekend marks the tenth anniversary of the 9-11 attack. What has changed since that day? Is the world a safer place? Just ask Israelis. Just ask Pakistanis. Just ask Afghans. Or citizens of Norway. Or the Coptic Christians in Egypt. Has terrorism been even slowed down? Even our own law-enforcement leaders are concerned, not about another 9-11 style attack, but about the one or two individuals who are living next door and are plotting an attack upon a nearby restaurant or shopping mall. It seems that the evil in the world is growing at an alarming rate. One wonders what it will be like when God finally takes the Restrainer from the world's scene (2 Thessalonians 2). I don't even want to begin to imagine.

Friends, I would invite you to continue praying for the peace of Jerusalem. We are commanded to pray thusly in Psalm 122:6. Pray for Israel's leadership that they might seek God's will and direction. And pray that our leaders will remember that promise given to Abraham of old: "I will bless those who bless you and curse those who curse you" (Genesis 12:3). God's purposes will be accomplished. Keep looking up.